The present invention relates to a simulated smoking article and more particularly to a non-combustible simulated smoking device using steam as an aerosol-generating source.
Various proposals have been made to provide a simulated smoking article which provides a tobacco taste without the combustion of tobacco. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,025 to Cook et al teaches a smoking article wherein hot gases are generated in a catalytic section of the smoking article which are used to form flavorable aerosol gases delivered to a smoker""s mouth while controlling the composition of the gases of combustion. U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,109 to Strubel teaches a simulated smoking article which utilizes chemical reactants which exothermically react when mixed together to provide a heat source for heating aerosol-generating substances which are drawn into the mouth of a smoker. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,947 to Clearman et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,665 to Roberts et al; and, U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,365 to Sensabaugh, Jr. et al teach various simulated smoking articles in which a heated aerosol is produced from an external heat source that is then delivered to the smoker.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a non-burning cigarette holder for receiving a cigarette therein wherein the tobacco in the cigarette is heated with steam and the flavorants in the tobacco are vaporized and maintained in a steam aerosol for ingestion by the smoker.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a non-burning cigarette holder for receiving a cigarette therein using an ethanol-water mixture as a fuel source for vaporizing the flavorants in a cigarette or tobacco column received within the holder.
In the instant invention, a non-burning cigarette holder is is attached to an ethanol-water fuel mixture wherein the fuel mixture is mixed with an air supply and ignited with heated gases and vapors which evolve therefrom being passed through a tobacco column of a cigarette wherein the tobacco within the cigarette is heated without combusting and the heated tobacco releases flavors into the hot vapors which are ingested by a smoker.
More particularly, the present invention is directed to a non-burning cigarette holder which includes a housing having an upstream section of a low-heat conducting material and a downstream section which is designed to receive a cigarette therein. The upstream section is provided with a first upstream chamber for receiving a fuel source therein and a second downstream chamber defining a fuel mixture chamber in flow communication with the upstream chamber. The downstream section includes a flame holder downstream of the second chamber and a flame chamber disposed between the flame holder and a downstream cigarette receiving chamber within the downstream section. The fuel source is an ethanol-water mixture.